Crystal S. Anderson

Crystal S. Anderson (PhD, American Studies) is affiliate faculty in Korean Studies at George Mason University, working within the fields of transnational American Studies and Global Asias with a focus on popular music, visual culture and media studies. Her current book, Soul in Seoul: African American Popular Music and K-pop (2020), explores the impact of R&B genres on global Korean pop, R&B and hip-hop and the role of global fans as the music press. Her first book, Beyond the Chinese Connection: Contemporary Afro-Asian Cultural Production (2013), uses the films of Bruce Lee to interpret cross-cultural dynamics in post-1990 novels, films and anime. She has published articles on Afro-Asian cultural studies in several journals including African American Review, MELUS, Ethnic Studies Review and Extrapolation as well as book chapters on masculinity in K-pop and Afro-Japanese representations in art. She manages several digital humanities projects, including KPK: Kpop Kollective, the oldest and only aca-fansite for K-pop, and KPOPCULTURE, which curates K-pop through digital exhibitions on music, choreography, fandom and industry.